Not Just the Driver!

Readers don’t have to be vehicle aficionados to appreciate these pages: by spotlighting a behind-the-scenes workforce, Ackerman (The Gabi That Girma Wore) and Neubecker ([em]Just Like Rube Gold- berg[/em]) expand their audiences’ apertures in terms of both awareness and appreciation. As the title hints, it’s not “just” those piloting machines—by air, land, or water—who make vehicles go. In a busy harbor, for example, where the blue, white-capped water is filled with cargo ships, fishing and pleasure boats, ferries, and even a mini-sub, more than captains are doing the work. Harbormasters are essential, too: “From an office perched on land,/ calm dispatchers lend a hand..../ They study routes. They double-check./ TOOT, TOOT, TOOT—all hands on deck!” Choreographing bustle and variety, thick-lined visuals bring snappy, dramatic rhymes to life. “Teamwork helps the world to move,” after all, and readers will appreciate insight into how, behind each kind of transport, many people work to ensure the journey runs safe and smooth. Figures are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Apr.)